Postcard from Mrs O

Having a wonderful time. Weather is so fabulous my tan lines have got tan lines. Ella has been a perfect darling and Mr O and I have spent the entire week relaxing with a cocktail in each hand. Hope the weather at home is totally shite and this postcard makes you feel slightly nauseous.

Much love, Mrs O xx

When was the last time you sent a postcard? An actual postcard? I seriously can’t remember the last time I did. To be honest when I went to buy one, purely for the purpose of this blog photo (#dedicated), I was slightly concerned that they may no longer exist. Who needs postcards when we can show off our tan lines and cocktails via social media?

But whichever medium you use to share tales of your jolly-holi’s, (or to be fair any events in your life), you have complete control over how you portray them. Some like to focus on the highs. Some like to linger on the lows. Some like to envoke feelings of envy. Some like a little sympathy vote here and there. But really, at the end of the day, it’s the way you choose to see it yourself that counts. It’s your experience after all. Your holiday. Your life.

Mr O and I have done a sterling job of looking on the bright side during our week at the seaside. Even if I do say so myself. When you decide to holiday in good old Blighty you take a massive spin of the weather roulette wheel and it’s fair to say we bombed out a bit. You don’t necessarily expect a heatwave at the end of April. But you don’t expect to arrive at your destination in a gale force hailstorm with thunder and lightning thrown in for effect.

You don’t expect a week of rest and relaxation when you have a two-year old in tow. But you don’t anticipate spending the night laying on the (bloody freezing) caravan floor, next to the travel cot because she won’t settle in a strange room. Or be woken up by her loudly singing ‘Wheels on the Bus’ at 5am, when she usually sleeps through till 7. (Every. Single. Morning.)

You’re stupidly surprised when, on day two, you wake up with the mother of all colds and you feel so rough you can’t even finish your glass of Pinot (Seriously. Can you imagine?) Your expectations of a fun, family day out are left in tatters when you realise ‘The Aquarium’ is essentially a shed with a few fish tanks in it and not the UK’s answer to Sea World as you’d been led to believe on the website. You start to feel just a little bit gutted that your long awaited, much needed, break from the norm isn’t quite going to plan.

But luckily for Mr O and I, we managed to see beyond the sleet and snow, through the haze of snot and fatigue and appreciate the fact that our little family had a whole week together. We had time. That ‘quality time’ that is so often spoken about, but so rarely experienced.

And so here’s my revised postcard…..

Dear *insert name*,

Having a wonderful time. Disappointing weather. Have come close to freezing my actual arse off. Mr O & I are more knackered now than when we got here. Does Lemsip count as a cocktail if you drink it through a straw? Have had five days of completely uninterrupted, utterly precious, quality time with my gorgeous family. Oh yes. I’m having a wonderful time.